Slots & Gaming Machines
Paylines
Paylines are the fixed lines or patterns across a slot machine's reels that decide which symbol combinations count as a win.
- Also called
- Line games, winning lines.
- Applies to
- Slot machines, especially multi-line video slots and regulated interactive line games.
- Number of paylines
- No standard count; examples include 3, 5, and 20 paylines in specific games.
- Regulation
- GLI-19 requires multi-line games to display available paylines and indicate selected lines.
Key points
- A payline is a fixed layout across the reels, such as horizontal or diagonal patterns, and a win occurs when required symbols land along that line.12
- In multi-line slots, several paylines can be active at once, and wins are evaluated separately on each selected line.34
- Unlike paylines, 'ways' pay for every unique matching symbol path across reels rather than for a fixed line pattern.5
- Scatter pay differs from paylines because it pays based on symbols appearing anywhere on the screen, not on a specific line.6
Payline examples in slot games
| Game | Paylines |
|---|---|
| Five-Line Australian Reels | 5 |
| Hot Roll | 20 |
Common questions
What are NIH paylines?
NIH paylines are unrelated to gambling. They refer to funding lines used by the US National Institutes of Health to determine which grant applications receive funding. The term 'payline' in this context means the percentile score at which NIH expects to fund a grant.
Where this term is used
Related terms
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5 reel slot machine paylines
Explains how paylines work specifically on 5-reel slot machines.
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Slot machine
Covers the general mechanics and history of slot machines.
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Casino slots
Describes the variety of slot games found in casinos.
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Progressive jackpot
Defines progressive jackpots and how they accumulate.
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Jackpot machine
A jackpot machine is a reel-based gambling device
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Slot machine reels
Slot machine reels are the physical or virtual spinning components
Sources
- Play Five-Line Australian Reels Slot Machine for Free wizardofodds.com Provides an example of a 5-payline slot game and explains how paylines work.
- Deconstructing Hot Roll - Games - Wizard of Odds wizardofodds.com Provides an example of a 20-payline slot game and explains how paylines work.
- GLI-19 STANDARDS FOR INTERACTIVE GAMING SYSTEMS gaminglabs.com Contains GLI-19 standards requiring display of paylines and selected lines.
- Full article: Losses disguised as wins in multiline slots tandfonline.com Discusses how wins are evaluated on selected paylines in multi-line slots.
- Slots - General Questions wizardofodds.com Distinguishes paylines from 'ways' in slot mechanics.
- Deconstructing Cleopatra wizardofodds.com Distinguishes paylines from scatter pay.
Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.